Prof Brian Cox to unveil plaque for Aberdeen Nobel Prize winner

By FRANK URQUHART
Published on 29/08/2012 13:33

PROFESSOR Brian Cox, the star of BBC’s “Wonders of the Universe” series, is to unveil a plaque in honour of an Aberdeen Nobel Prize winner at next week’s British Science Festival in the city.

Prof Cox, who will be one of the main speakers during the six day science showcase,will unveil the plaque in memory of the late Professor George Paget Thomson who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1937 .

Prof Thomson, who joined the staff of Aberdeen University in 1922 as a Professor of Natural Philosophy carried out extensive work at Marischal College on the behaviour of electrons going through very thin films of metals, which showed that electrons behave as waves in spite of being particles.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his research together with American physicist C.J. Davisson, who had arrived at the same conclusions through different experiments.

The plaque is being erected at Marischal College by the Institute of Physics as part of its prestigious scheme to commemorate ground breaking physicists throughout history. The plaque also commemorates the role played by C. G. Fraser, the chief laboratory technician from Aberdeen who played a pivotal role in designing and building Thomson’s ground breaking experiments.

Dr Ken Skeldon, head of public engagement at Aberdeen University, said: “It is fitting that Aberdeen becomes only the third place in Scotland to have an Institute of Physics plaque recognising a great achiever. George Paget Thomson was an exceptional physicist whose experiments tested the theories of quantum mechanics being put forward by other great minds of the day.

“His Nobel Prize was awarded for the work he carried out during his time at Marischal College aided significantly by his chief technician C G Fraser and there has been a long campaign to have them both recognised through this scheme.”

He added: “The British Science Festival provided the perfect catalyst to drive this project forward, and it is even more fitting that Brian Cox, whose new book with Jeff Forshaw, ‘The Quantum Universe’ features Thomson’s work, should perform the unveiling.”